Posts by user "twochai" [Posts: 11 Total up-votes: 0 Page: 1 of 1]ΒΆ

twochai
August 28, 2010, 02:37:00 GMT
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Post: 5897299
SLF in the jump seat

I rode Concorde two or three times and what a ride it was!

On one occasion I had booked to travel BA 'J' class from Washington to Delhi on a regular business trip. Out of DCA to JFK they booked me on the 'Concorde shuttle' (a Dash 8 of US Airways, believe it or not) to connect with a 744 to LHR and another connection on to Delhi. At DCA check in the agent mumbled something about a catering problem out of JFK, but I took no particular notice. On arrival at Kennedy an agent with a name placard diverted me to the Concorde gate, a nice surprise indeed, even for a BA Gold Card holder.

On boarding Concorde, I gave my business card to the purser, asking that she pass it forward. A few minutes later as the door was closing she came back to pass along an invitation from the skipper to join them in the cockpit. During the short delay for start clearance, the captain briefed me on the Canarsie 31L departure I was about to watch from the jump seat behind. "3-2-1 GO" as the aircraft lept forward, V1/Vr/V2, 100', roll left 30 degrees to track towards Canarsie, 1' 30" (or something similar, some details are long forgotten now) power back for 500'/minute ROC to 3,000', then accelerate to 250K as the heading continued around for the outbound course and the ocean crossing. A true aerial ballet.

For the balance of the climb I plied the guys with questions and received courteous and detailed answers to every one, along with a 'freebie' - some hilarious repartee between the BALPA captain and the management F/O type, with occasional interjections by the Engineer. I stayed through the supersonic acceleration until I thought I'd worn out my welcome at cruise climb, returning to my seat in the mid cabin area for lunch. They invited me back for the descent and approach, which was very well appreciated.

On descent over the U.K. and passing through 10K' abeam Southampton, as I remember it we got a yellow 'Radiation' caution light (normally to warn of higher than normal levels of radiation in the tropoause from sun spot activity, I believe), which caused me to ask WTHWT? The slightly bored F/O said, as he cancelled the light, "Oh, its 'just' a nuclear power plant down there, we get this all the time"! (And for all these years I had swallowed the PR line from the nuclear industry that they were squeaky clean, unlike those of us in the aircraft manufacturing business??)

The approach and landing at LHR was fascinating to watch, without the frenetic activity of the departure. No flaps and no configuration change after gear down, virtually no flare, perhaps even a little nose down pitch as I observed (was that true??) the handling pilot just let it float into ground effect for a gentle touch down, snappily into reverse and heavy, but not maximum braking. It looked easy, of course.

The F/E was a key part of the entire operation and I find it hard to believe that a Concorde "B" would have eliminated his position, no matter how automated the systems might have become. The whole flight was very, very professionally handled with that air of apparent casualness that comes only from a very disciplined team operating at the peak of performance. A true joy to watch.

I guess I was just a minor part of the vaunted 'halo' effect that BA marketing always claimed for Concorde - its ability to pull additional traffic to its worldwide services in a very competitive business climate. But it sure worked for me! And all because of a catering misadventure, or was that just an excuse??

However, the thing that has always truly amazed me about Concorde is that this machine was created by two companies, two countries, with two languages, two systems of measure and two very different cultures in a period before the invention of Computer Aided Design and on-line communications! What a marvellous thing that mankind created. My hat off to you all.

Thank you, John, that was some flight!

TC

Last edited by twochai; 28th August 2010 at 03:05 .

Subjects (links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Braking  British Airways  Captains  JFK  LHR

twochai
August 30, 2010, 18:11:00 GMT
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Post: 5902228
No idea who you are but THAT is what I would call first class treatment
Other than being a regular customer of BA at the time, I was nobody. It certainly was First Class treatment, but as M2Dude said:

all passengers were made to feel really special, it is so great that the guys had you up front for so long on that flight.
On the other hand, among the really important people that I recognized on that same flight included:
Boutros Boutros Ghali sitting in row 1 with his security detail
Paul Newman sitting directly behind me, reading my sports car magazines and asking why I was the one who got to ride up front
John McEnroe down the back, but uncharacteristically quiet!

Subjects (links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): British Airways

twochai
September 02, 2010, 14:34:00 GMT
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Post: 5908868
I cannot think of a civil airliner where the nose gear retracts backwards
Tupolev 114?

Subjects (links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Landing Gear

twochai
September 11, 2010, 09:43:00 GMT
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Post: 5928163
Concorde nose gear collapse

My one abiding fear (apart from obesity) about buying a ticket on Concorde was 'what the hell happens' in event of a nose gear collapse, or landing after failure of the nose gear to extend?? The very tall nose gear with the relatively short wheelbase geometry would suggest such an event would be carastrophic.

Can any of the learned design types on this forum tell about the considerations involved - was there a procedure to handle it, or would it just do a pole vault and compress into an accordion? Were special design features incorporated to make such an event unlikely, or was it even survivable?

Subjects (links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Landing Gear

twochai
September 11, 2010, 22:49:00 GMT
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Post: 5929306
were c.c. allowed the same nosh?
In my experience on the receiving end, the amount of personal attention they gave each and every passenger was truly amazing, particularly considering the very complicated meal service offered from a galley with minimal storage volume and a tiny working space

I very much doubt CC had any time available, even for snacking on the 3-4 hour flights.

Subjects (links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Cabin Crew  Galley

twochai
October 24, 2010, 22:08:00 GMT
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Post: 6015534
Effect on range of single reheat failure to light on T/O

I understand that you could continue the takeoff if one reheat failed to light, but two questions. if you will:

TC

Subjects (links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Afterburner/Re-heat

twochai
November 06, 2010, 13:22:00 GMT
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Post: 6043392
One of your earlier posts makes reference to the three engine ferry case, so I assume it was an authorised procedure?

Can one of your number remember the technique, the limitations and any comments on the rotation/acceleration/climb. I'm curious about the handling implications.

Subjects: None

twochai
February 17, 2011, 01:44:00 GMT
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Post: 6251610
Given how much approbation she collected the first time she went to New York, it seems New Yorkers eventually found a place in their hearts for her.
Let's be clear folks, Concorde would have never operated to JFK without a very generous interpretation of the applicable noise abatement rules by the FAA/PoNYA guys who signed it off. Who else has ever approved a 30 degree banked turn initiated at 100' on departure as an SOP on a heavy aircraft??

Concorde had that 'je ne sais quoi' that encouraged airplane people everywhere to think big and ask themselves 'what can be done?'.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not remember anybody ever whining (at least in print) about the significant premium revenue traffic diverted from the competing US airlines!

Of course, if the Yanks had actually produced an SST, things might have been very different.

Last edited by twochai; 17th February 2011 at 02:17 .

Subjects (links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): JFK  Noise Abatement

twochai
April 21, 2011, 22:51:00 GMT
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Post: 6405276
CliveL:

Was the vortex lift characteristic of the ogee wing aerodynamics fully understood before the aero configuration of Concorde was finalised?

How much did the BAC 221 (the Fairey Delta II analog of Concorde) contribute to the understanding of vortex lift of this wing?

TwoChai

Subjects (links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Vortex

twochai
April 22, 2011, 15:36:00 GMT
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Post: 6406441
Interesting, as always.

Thanks.

Subjects: None

twochai
December 04, 2011, 21:33:00 GMT
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Post: 6842686
A more practical issue was that the engines were "handed", so that if a "left-handed" engine failed and you had only "right-handed" engines in stock, you had a problem.....
Now that raises an interesting question - "why?". Why would turbojet engines need to be handed? Was it to eliminate the need for slightly offset trims required to cancel the gyroscopic forces of symmetrical rotation of the engines in cruise??

Subjects: None